Expert writers’ descriptions and justifications of research instruments and materials
Using communicative resources to generate promotional effects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.34704Keywords:
academic writing, genre analysis, instructional materials, methods section, professional discourse, research instruments/materialsAbstract
The Methods section often serves as the driving force in the construction of empirical research reports. In research writing in particular, novice writers often overlook the importance of promotional elements that describe and justify the use of their research materials and instruments. In the present study, a discourse-analytic genre-based approach was used to study the information elements in a corpus of 32 experimental research reports published in eight established journals on language education. The related descriptions require the use of imperative clauses, verb phrases indicating obligations and functions, predicator-adverbial structures highlighting degrees of commonality and noun phrases denoting circumstances. Justifications of the use of research materials and instruments recurrently involve (1) structures that demonstrate writers' cognizance of difficulty levels, (2) means adjuncts indicating consistency, (3) integral citations in participial clauses and (4) cogent statements associating recent endorsements sought from multiple specialist informants in an academic community. The findings obtained can be used by instructors to demonstrate how contextual knowledge and communicative resources are generally used by expert writers to persuasively construct methodological knowledge.
References
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Connor, U. and Mauranen, A. (1999) Linguistic analysis of grant proposals. English for Specific Purposes 18 (1): 47–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(97)00026-4
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Flowerdew, J. (1999) Problems in writing for scholarly publications in English: The case of Hong Kong. Journal of Second Language Writing 8 (3): 243–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1060-3743(99)80116-7
Fraenkel, J. R. and Wallen, N. E. (2003) How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. Fifth edition. New York: McGraw Hill.
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Lim, J. M. H. (2017) Writing descriptions of experimental procedures in language education: Implications for the teaching of English for academic purposes. English for Specific Purposes 47: 61–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2017.05.001
Lim, J. M. H., Loi, C. K. and Hashim, A. (2014) Postulating hypotheses in experimental doctoral dissertations on Applied Linguistics: A qualitative investigation into rhetorical shifts and linguistic mechanisms. Iberica 27: 121–142.
Lim, J. M. H., Loi, C. K., Hashim, A. and Liu, M. S. M. (2015) Purpose statements in experimental doctoral dissertations submitted to U.S. universities: An inquiry into doctoral students’ communicative resources in language education. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 20: 69–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2015.06.002
Nwogu, K. N. (1997) The medical research paper: Structure and functions. English for Specific Purposes 16 (2): 119–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(97)85388-4
Parkinson, J. (2011) The Discussion section as argument: The language used to prove knowledge claims. English for Specific Purposes 30: 164–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2011.03.001
Quirk, R, Greenbaum, S., Leech, G. and Svartvik, J. (1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.
Sachs, R. and Polio, C. (2007) Learners’ uses of two types of written feedback on a L2 writing revision task. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 29 (1): 67–100. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263107070039
Sarangi, S. and Coulthard, M. (2000) Discourse as topic, resource and social practice: An introduction. In S. Sarangi and M. Coulthard (eds) Discourse and Social Life, xv–xli. London: Pearson Education.
Sheldon, E. (2011) Rhetorical differences in RA introductions written by English L1 and L2 and Castilian Spanish L1 writers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 10 (4): 238–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2011.08.004
Smagorinsky, P. (2008) The Method section as conceptual epicentre in constructing social science research reports. Written Communication 25 (3): 389–411. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088308317815
Swales, J. M. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. M. (2004) Research Genres: Exploration and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524827
Swales, J. M. and Feak, C. B. (2000) English in Today’s Research World: A Writing Guide. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9059
Thomas, S. and Hawes, T. P. (1994) Reporting verbs in medical journal articles. English for Specific Purposes 13 (2): 129–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/0889-4906(94)90012-4
Tuckman, B. W. (1999) Conducting Educational Research. Fifth edition. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Weissberg, R. and Buker, S. (1990) Writing up Research. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Wong V. F. and Lim, J. M. H. (2014) Linking communicative functions with linguistic resources in short stories: Implications of a narrative analysis for second language writing instruction. System 45: 147–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.05.008
Bazerman, C. (1993) Intertextual self-fashioning: Gould and Lewontin’s representations of the literature. In J. Seilzer (ed.) Understanding Scientific Prose, 20–41. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Bazerman, C. (2008) Theories of the middle range in historical studies of writing practice. Written Communication 25 (3): 298–318. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088308318025
Belcher, D. and Hirvela, A. (2005) Writing the qualitative dissertation: What motivates and sustains a fuzzy genre? Journal of English for Academic Purposes 4 (3): 187–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2004.07.010
Berkenkotter, C. (2009) A case for historical ‘wide-angle’ genre analysis: A personal retrospective. Ibérica 18: 10–21.
Berkenkotter, C. and Huckin, T. N. (1995) Genre Knowledge in Disciplinary Communication: Cognition/Culture/power. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Connor, U. and Mauranen, A. (1999) Linguistic analysis of grant proposals. English for Specific Purposes 18 (1): 47–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(97)00026-4
Cotos, E., Huffman, S. and Link, S. (2017) A move/step model for methods sections: Demonstrating rigour and credibility. English for Speci?c Purposes 46: 90–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2017.01.001
Creswell, J. W. (2008) Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Third edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Dahl, T. (2009) The linguistic representation of rhetorical function: A study of how economists present their knowledge claims. Written Communication 26 (4): 370–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088309341241
Downing, A. and Locke, P. (2006) English Grammar: A University Course. Second edition. London and New York: Routledge.
Flowerdew, J. (1999) Problems in writing for scholarly publications in English: The case of Hong Kong. Journal of Second Language Writing 8 (3): 243–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1060-3743(99)80116-7
Fraenkel, J. R. and Wallen, N. E. (2003) How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. Fifth edition. New York: McGraw Hill.
Gay, L. R., Mills, G. E. and Airasian, P. (2009) Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications. Ninth edition. London: Pearson Education.
Greenbaum, S. and Quirk, R. (1992) A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.
Hornby, A. S. (2010) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Eighth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hyland, K. (2000) Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing. Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.
Hyland, K. (2006) English for Academic Purposes: An Advanced Resource Book. London and New York: Routledge.
Hyland, K. (2009) Academic Discourse: English in a Global Context. London: Continuum.
Joseph, R., Lim, J. M. H. and Nor, N. A. M. (2014) Communicative moves in Forestry research introductions: Implications for the design of learning materials. Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences 134: 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.04.224
Kallet, R. H. (2004) How to write the Methods section of a research paper. Respiratory Care 49 (10): 1229–1232.
Kanoksilapatham, B. (2005) Rhetorical structure of biochemistry research articles. English for Specific Purposes 24 (3): 269–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2004.08.003
Li, L. J. and Ge, G. C. (2009) Genre analysis: Structural and linguistic evolution of the English-medium medical research article (1985–2004). English for Specific Purposes 28 (2): 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2008.12.004
Lim, J. M. H. (2006) Method sections of management research articles: A pedagogically motivated qualitative study. English for Specific Purposes 25 (3): 282–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2005.07.001
Lim, J. M. H. (2008a) Analysing recommendations for future research: An investigation into a hybrid sub-genre. In R. Wilkinson and V. Zegers (eds) Realizing Content and Language Integration in Higher Education, 131–154. Maastricht, Netherlands: Maastricht University.
Lim, J. M. H. (2008b) Indicating significance of current research: Pedagogical implications of a genre analysis for dissertation writing. Open Applied Linguistics Journal 1: 46–55.
Lim, J. M. H. (2011a) Delineating sampling procedures: Pedagogical significance of analysing sampling descriptions and their justifications in TESL experimental research reports. Iberica 21: 71–92.
Lim, J. M. H. (2011b) ‘Paving the way for research findings’: Writers’ rhetorical choices in education and Applied Linguistics. Discourse Studies 13 (6): 725–749. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445611421364
Lim, J. M. H. (2012) How do writers establish research niches? A genre-based investigation into management researchers’ rhetorical steps and linguistic mechanisms. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 11 (3): 229–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2012.05.002
Lim, J. M. H. (2014) Formulating research questions in experimental doctoral dissertations on Applied Linguistics. English for Specific Purposes 35: 66–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2014.02.003
Lim, J. M. H. (2017) Writing descriptions of experimental procedures in language education: Implications for the teaching of English for academic purposes. English for Specific Purposes 47: 61–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2017.05.001
Lim, J. M. H., Loi, C. K. and Hashim, A. (2014) Postulating hypotheses in experimental doctoral dissertations on Applied Linguistics: A qualitative investigation into rhetorical shifts and linguistic mechanisms. Iberica 27: 121–142.
Lim, J. M. H., Loi, C. K., Hashim, A. and Liu, M. S. M. (2015) Purpose statements in experimental doctoral dissertations submitted to U.S. universities: An inquiry into doctoral students’ communicative resources in language education. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 20: 69–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2015.06.002
Nwogu, K. N. (1997) The medical research paper: Structure and functions. English for Specific Purposes 16 (2): 119–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(97)85388-4
Parkinson, J. (2011) The Discussion section as argument: The language used to prove knowledge claims. English for Specific Purposes 30: 164–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2011.03.001
Quirk, R, Greenbaum, S., Leech, G. and Svartvik, J. (1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.
Sachs, R. and Polio, C. (2007) Learners’ uses of two types of written feedback on a L2 writing revision task. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 29 (1): 67–100. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263107070039
Sarangi, S. and Coulthard, M. (2000) Discourse as topic, resource and social practice: An introduction. In S. Sarangi and M. Coulthard (eds) Discourse and Social Life, xv–xli. London: Pearson Education.
Sheldon, E. (2011) Rhetorical differences in RA introductions written by English L1 and L2 and Castilian Spanish L1 writers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 10 (4): 238–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2011.08.004
Smagorinsky, P. (2008) The Method section as conceptual epicentre in constructing social science research reports. Written Communication 25 (3): 389–411. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088308317815
Swales, J. M. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. M. (2004) Research Genres: Exploration and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524827
Swales, J. M. and Feak, C. B. (2000) English in Today’s Research World: A Writing Guide. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9059
Thomas, S. and Hawes, T. P. (1994) Reporting verbs in medical journal articles. English for Specific Purposes 13 (2): 129–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/0889-4906(94)90012-4
Tuckman, B. W. (1999) Conducting Educational Research. Fifth edition. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Weissberg, R. and Buker, S. (1990) Writing up Research. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Wong V. F. and Lim, J. M. H. (2014) Linking communicative functions with linguistic resources in short stories: Implications of a narrative analysis for second language writing instruction. System 45: 147–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.05.008
Published
2018-07-11
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
How to Cite
Lim, J. M.-H. (2018). Expert writers’ descriptions and justifications of research instruments and materials: Using communicative resources to generate promotional effects. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 11(2), 154-176. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.34704
